TJ Cotterill
The News Tribune
SEATTLE — Edgar Martinez returned to Seattle for the first time as a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. He walked into the ballpark just off the Interstate-5 exit with “E Martinez Dr.” blazoned on the bright green freeway sign.
Just a week earlier his “11” jersey number waved from a flag atop the Space Needle. Six months from now he’ll have a bronze bust of his face wearing a Seattle Mariners hat in Cooperstown, New York, next to the game’s legends.
Ask him if he ever envisioned he’d one day have all of this in his honor when he was 20 years old playing semi-pro ball in Puerto Rico. Or even four years later when he made his MLB debut.
“I never would have thought that all of this was going to happen to me,” Martinez said. “It’s just an incredible feeling.
“The journey has been amazing. I’m trying not to allow myself to think about all those things too much, but it’s still an incredible journey.”
After all the rounds in New York for press conferences and appearances with his fellow 2019 Hall of Fame inductees, including Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina and the family of Roy Halladay, who died in a plane crash in 2017, Martinez finally made his way back to the only place besides Puerto Rico he calls home.
Mariners front-office staff greeted him at T-Mobile Park with cheers and a red-carpet entry before he took questions from local reporters, with his wife, Holli, and daughters, Jacqueline and Tessa, seated in front of him.
But Martinez was as calm and collected as he was throughout his 18-year career that was spent solely with the Mariners.
His teenage kids? They were far more giddy.
“It doesn’t feel real — he’s just our dad,” Tessa laughed. “He’s a really cool guy, but it’s crazy all of this stuff is happening. Everybody is saying, ‘Congratulations to your dad,’ and people are messaging you like, ‘Whoa, that’s so cool.’
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool.’ But it just feels like he’s my dad.”
They’ll take their first-ever walk down a red carpet, though.
Edgar said he’s still sorting through emails in between the hordes of calls and texts from former teammates and friends since Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson announced Martinez is joining the Hall of Fame — in his 10th and final year on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot.
This was a long time coming for maybe the most productive designated hitter in MLB history. But he said the best part about waiting 10 years was it allowed his kids to be old enough to appreciate the moment with him because they said they were so young when he played that they have few memories of him actually wearing that No. 11 jersey.
“It just means more when you can share this with the family,” Martinez said. “It’s been really cool. The last few months, going through the process, we kept it down trying to talk about it much.”
He said he probably checked Ryan Thibodeaux’s online ballot tracker fewer times this year than in the past. He knew this was likely his year. And when the Today’s Game Era voted in Harold Baines, another former DH, he said he knew he’d eventually be a Hall of Famer, even if he wasn’t elected by the baseball writers that he’d get in by one of the committee’s eventually.
“But Holli would keep track of it,” Martinez said with a smile. “So I knew what was going on.”
Mariners chairman emeritus John Ellis introduced Martinez on Tuesday by starting off his speech talking about Martinez’s meticulous care of his wood bats. So he segued that into the Mariners bringing out a replica “Light Bat” from Martinez’s Mariners commercial.
“It’s a light bat,” Martinez said, repeating his line from the famous commercial.
To his left were five of his silver bats, representing the five Silver Slugger awards Martinez collected.
He said he’s got a long ways to go as he works on his induction speech. He will be officially enshrined in Cooperstown during the July 19-22 weekend, where he’ll finally get his bust next to former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. and in a room next to where former Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus is enshrined for earning the Ford C. Frick Award. Martinez mentioned both of them on Tuesday.
He also talked about his passion for the Seattle community, where he’s been an advocate for raising awareness for muscular dystrophy, visited children’s hospitals and supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation. All of it with what is now, finally, officially considered a Hall of Fame career has helped make him the most beloved player in Mariners history.
“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s shocking,” Martinez said of his reaction. “It takes a while to actually sink in. But I’ve been able to reflect a little more on what it means and it really is an honor. It’s a big honor to think I will be in the Hall of Fame with such great players from the past. An amazing honor to be elected alongside Junior, Niehaus and my fellow friends from Puerto Rico — (Roberto) Clemente, (Orlando) Cepeda, Ivan Rodriguez and Roberto Alomar. It’s an amazing feeling.
“You think about all the year playing as a young player in the minor leagues and you never think about the future or being a Hall of Famer. You just play the best you can one day at a time and over the years you look back at all the stats — all the hard work just pays off. I think that’s why it feels great.”
